Canadian Facebook users can now designate a family member or friend to take over their account in the event of their death.
Facebook’s “Legacy Contact” initiative was launched south of the border in February, but only became an option in Canada on Thursday.
Canada is the first country outside of the U.S. to get the feature, but Facebook said the service will soon be available internationally.
How to designate a legacy contact
To access the feature, Facebook users can go into their settings and select "Security." At the bottom of the list, users can edit their legacy contact by hitting "Edit," then typing in that person's Facebook name.
"Your legacy contact won’t be notified until your account is memorialized, but you’ll have the option to send them a message right away," the site says.
In the event of the user’s death, the designated legacy contact can write a post that will be pinned to the profile, respond to new friend requests, and even update the profile and cover photos of the deceased. The legacy contact cannot log into the account and post in the name of the deceased, however.
Facebook users who do not want to designate a legacy contact also have the option to have their account deleted when they die.
If users don’t add a legacy contact, a family member can contact Facebook and have the page deleted or memorialized.
